A study looking at the impact of pets on life satisfaction has found that pet ownership will lead to an increase from three to four points on a seven-point scale denoting life satisfaction.
Co-authored by Adelina Gschwandtner from the University of Kent and Michael Gmeiner from the London School of Economics, the study used data from 2,500 British households featured in the UK Household Longitudinal Survey.
The study concludes that having an animal companion is worth up to £70,000 a year in life satisfaction – a figure that equates to the theoretical boost in income you might get from the positive benefits of having a spouse or meeting with friends and relatives regularly.
The well-being benefits from having a pet are therefore comparable to the life satisfaction gained from an income increase of up to £70,000 per year.
Pets can improve emotional health and act as social catalysts, with dogs offering interactions with other people on dog walks, and can support and increase mobility through walking and jogging.
The presence of a pet in the home also helps with feelings of isolation and social exclusion, and while the associations between pets and depression reduction is not always present, the results are overwhelmingly positive. Other studies have shown that caring for a pet (or even simply interacting with one) can help people live longer, healthier lives.
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